Largest Catfish Caught in the World by 2 Men

Catfish lurk the bottoms of lakes and rivers. They eat basically anything they can find and will fit in their mouth. They are omnivores meaning that they eat both meats and greens. They are usually spending their entire schedule feeding on anything they cansume. Their sense of smell is very powerful.

They are considered a garbage fish in a lot of areas because they feed on other fish’s eggs and basically whatever they can find on the water bottoms.

This kills thousands of fish within a small amount of time when your digesting an entire breeding ground of eggs. In some areas of North America, it is even preferred that fisherman just kill catfish no matter what when they are caught. This helps the other fish have a better chance to spawn larger numbers.

Long story short, these fish get big pretty easily. A catfish actually holds the record for largest freshwater fish caught in most countries. The world record for a catfish is said to of been caught in Thailand by 2 fisherman. The weight is recorded at a groundbreaking 645 lbs. This catfish was considered to be a monster type species of catfish in the local area of Thailand. It was around 9 feet long and the image speaks pretty loudly how large this fish actually was.

Details of what type of bait the fish was caught on are unfound. I would personally love to know the details of the catch but details like that don’t exist. Everyone loves a good fish story so in wondering why they left that info out. What they were fish in with. What time of day? How they beached it? We’re they random fishermen or daily enthusiasts of the sport and more.

Facts Regarding Catfish

What a lot of people do not know about catfish is that they lay the amount of eggs dependent on how large there. A catfish can lay up to around 4000 eggs per pound a year. That is a rough estimate of course but still a good number to keep in mind. They are also known for their skin and the fact that it is not scales like most other fish.

Catfish can survive in very bad dark water conditions. Fish farms only need small ponds and they do not have to have very high water quality in order to put out large amounts of catfish. It’s kind of sad when you actually see the living environment that these fish farms are using for catfish. Even though they are working properly it still is pretty inhumane in my opinion. Just because a fish can tolerate and live in nasty water conditions doesn’t mean that it has to live that way.

Catfish scrounge the bottoms and eat a lot of crayfish which involves very heavy protein. They are also feeding on the other small fish that are sometimes half dead which also contains a lot of protein. Fact of the matter is there eating food that is very high in protein and that is why they grow to be so large. Catfish are also very popular and heavy populated throughout the entire world. I have heard fax that they are the fourth or fifth most popular fish in the world. It would be cool to find the fact like that if someone could help me source it or find me or relate me to a guide with more information regarding that.

What’s kind of cool to know about catfish is they use little antennas as sensory items to taste what is in the water. They can literally sense when a predator is around and making therefore go hide from them or on the other side that they can taste their next meal. Their sense of smell through their antenna like whiskers are very strong.

A lot of people have the misbelief that catfish just sit on the bottom and eat the garbage the lake or bodies of water but that’s not true. What they are eating is just actually a lot easier to come across and it still involves a whole lot of protein. In a lot of cases they are eating fish eggs, different types of mealworms, crustaceans like crayfish and more. It kind of makes me angry when people call these fish garbage fish because it’s completely misleading but I do understand that it’s only because of a lack of knowledge or research.

What Do You Think About It?

Reply from Tommy L.
You would have to think they were just fishing with worms. To catch a cat their bait had to be on the bottom too don’t you think. I think catfish have bad eyesight and use their sensors to sense food near but do almost all their feeding from off the bottom of the floor. That would be my guess. I’m just a walleye fisherman though that catches cats by accident an hates them. Id rather not catch anything then have to handle a catfish.

I think that when people call these garbage fish it is actually because they are eating other fish eggs and people are getting angry. They are literally devastating the populations of other fish species just by taking out all of the newborn and that’s simple matter. When we call them garbage fish it’s actually just too to anger and just more of a hatred thing. At least that’s how it goes for my fishing buddies and myself.

Reply from Admin
That’s probably a great guess there Tommy. Who knows what they feed on in Thailand though. They could be determined to fish completely for catfish and use dead fish hooked up with multiple hook Setups. We pretty much have no idea.. kinda makes you scratch your head.

Reply from Jason V.
I wonder if they kept the fish or what they did with it. You would think that the picture would be taken near the lakeside or beach side because how do you shore a 600 lb fish with two guys. Maybe they got the city officials involved when they saw the size of the thing. Guaranteed they ate it too. Knowing Thailand and nothing goes to waste!

I started thinking about this a little more in depth and if you think about it a 600 pound fish is going to be really hard to do anything with. In the picture you can see that the fish is Inland and I don’t think to man by themselves are going to pull a 600 pound fish anywhere on land. I could possibly see them bringing the fish and from the water because the waterway is going to make it a lot less but moving it on land you’re going to probably need a small vehicle. Who knows though maybe they had a small Vehicle and just hooked up to a tow strap and told it. This is what bugs me about fishing stories is I want to know all of the small details just so I believe it because I’m such a skeptical person.

Wanted all the details like what kind of fishingrod they were using or what sideline they were using or what kind of bait they had on the hook and how long it took them to where the fish in. What kind of net they used or what kind of set up they are using to move this fish because it weighs 600 pounds I guess.

Reply from Matt F:
It’s easy to be skeptical but as you can see you have a picture and I’m pretty sure this is a world record book if you want to go look for it because I swear I’ve seen this picture before. And it’s not even worth your time of being skeptical because you’re never going to prove it because this is just posted online and pretty much anybody can just make a photo like this with Photoshop. So basically what you have to do is just search for the stuffing kind of just look at it and appreciate maybe the cool catch if it’s real.

If the fish is in the Guinness Book of World Records though I do know that they have a research team and they will send out an agent or a couple of them to make sure that the record is for sure. I actually have a friend that was trying to break a couple of world records and they were going to send out an agent to record him and take research of all of the variables.

I would kind of like to know like what fishing methods they use in the country of Thailand. Do you think that they have all the same technology for equipment for fishing as they do here in the United States for us? Because I have gone deep-sea fishing and other countries and technology wasn’t even half of what it is here in the United States and to catch a 600 pound fish on a fishing pole you would think it needs to be of strong quality.

I factor that would kind of scare me is the idea of using a fishing net and having it be legal for them to catch huge fish like this. I do know some parts of the world people are legally ok to fish with huge nets.. That pisses me off.

Reply from Admin
Moving that size fish would have to take some sort of a crazy setup.. your right on that one. Maybe they just tow it with a vehicle and let it drag. Seems like the easier way to me without getting heavy equipment involved. Maybe a 4 wheeler would perfect too. Tough to say if they had wheelers or what.

Reply from Grant W.
When I catch a 30 lb catfish it feels like a boat anchor on my line. How in the heck did they shore a 600 lb fish with a setup in Thailand off the banks of some sleezy riverside. It’s funny because if you had a $600 pole setup you would never catch that but if you a had a branch with a shoe lace for line… that’s what you catch. Funny how the world works isn’t it.

Reply from Lenny B.
Now that shoe lace comment made me laugh hard. I get what your saying though and yes that’s how it works. If you have a spare tire you won’t get a flat tire. If you don’t have a spare… Yeah you get it. We have all lived and learned this. Of course they ate that beast! Probably sold it to a fisheries for some crazy money. Then they sold it labeled as world record catfish for sale. Big bucks.. Ka-ching.

Reply from Admin
Never really thought of the meat being worth money in a sense like that. It all makes sense now. Or maybe they just fed an entire colony of people with a couple large meals. I’ve heard catfish is delicious when cooked properly.